CIRCUIT OF THE SENSES

EMILIE BALTZ

BEMIS CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

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Inspired by Kafka’s definition of theater as “melting the ice within, of awakening dormant cells, of making us more fully alive, more fully human, at once more individual and more connected to each other,” Circuit of the Senses was a 5-course interactive dinner that encourages participants to touch, taste, smell, see and listen together as a community.

Designed for the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, this 120 person dinner party held in the main galleries of the institution engages patrons in reimagining the role that art plays in daily life by transforming a fundraising gala dinner into an edible playground. Guests were assigned individual paths through the galleries and encounter interactive courses inspired by the five human senses: roasting marshmallows and hot dogs on singing grills, eating from bowls spinning on transparent ice tables, feeding from a live table and dining on clouds of rosemary vapor.

The Circuit embodies Baltz's vision of creating experiences that stimulate playful, multi-sensory interaction that re-train adults in childlike discoveries of the world and reawaken curiosity in the everyday.